Walk Beside Me
by ChaserFaNaTic
Summary: "I'm not who I want to be," the green girl says. "I don't care what you want to be. I'll embrace it." The black haired boy says. "I'm lonely," the red-head said. "I'm still here," the purplenette said. "I want to be able to trust," the silver haired girl said. "You can start by trusting me," said the blonde. Six characters, three problems, three solutions; will they work though?
1. The New Girl

Well, ain't this interesting! A collab story! My first collab story, as a matter a fact. It's also a first for the author I wrote it with: He-Jay. You may know her from such great fics like Please Smile. Be sure to check her profile out as much as this story!

Word of warning. It's part of my fanfic religion to put a profound disclaimer in big, bold print EVERY chapter. Sorry if you think it gets in the way.

**Disclaimer: Elsword(엘소드) is owned by KoG Corp., Nexon Korea, Kill3rCombo, Giant Network, Gamania, Gameforge, and LevelUp!Games respective to their own regions. Only this story is owned by the authors: He-Jay and myself.**

Enjoy the first chapter!

* * *

She stood nervously at the door in front of her. A dark green sign stuck out of it and it had '1-B' stating that this class was one of many freshmen classes.

Rena let in deep breath, exhaled, adjusted her uniform, and opened the sliding door. She let her emerald hair trail behind her as she slowly walked to the front of the classroom. The students eyed her with curiosity and waited for her to introduce herself. She picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name on the board.

After doing so, she turned to her classmates and said,

"My name is Rena and I hope that I can make friends with all of you guys!" She bowed and the students clapped politely.

The teacher settled the class down and told Rena, "Now…where should you sit…um…ah! You can sit right next Aisha. Aisha there, is our class president. If you have a question, don't be afraid to ask her!"

She made her way over to the desk and plopped herself down. The purple haired mage stared at Rena. Uncomfortable, Rena sheepishly laughed.

"Um…may I help you?"

"Your eyes….they're so pretty…" Aisha got closer to her face.

With a slight tint of pink on her face, Rena backed away and whispered, "E-Excuse me, you're making me very uncomfortable."

The purple-haired girl quickly retracted.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I tend to get very carried away."

"Wow, good job. It hasn't even been ten minutes and you're already creeping the new girl out…"

Rena turned around and saw a flash of red. The boy had scruffy, but natural looking hair and a smirk that never seemed to fade. He was leaning back into his chair and his feet were on the desk. It was obvious that he wasn't interested in the lesson that was being taught.

"Am not!" Aisha whispered back.

"That explains why she moved back from you right?"

"Elsword, shut up! It's not like you don't ogle people either!"

Rena tried to be a mediator between them two, shushing at them to calm down.

"What? Who would I look at?"

A devious grin came on Aisha's face.

"Oh ho ho~~ I see the way you look at the 'Ice Princess'", slyly remarked Aisha.

Ice Princess?

"What!?" Elsword pounded his hands on his desk and stood up. "I do not look at Eve like that!"

Perhaps it was a little too loud; everyone was staring at him and the teacher was looking at him with a deathly glare. Elsword finally realized what he had done and with a red face, he was about sit back down when the teacher called out for him.

"Elsword!"

"Ye-Yes ma'am?" He was stuttering over his words.

The teacher's face lit up into a smile and said, "Since you've been paying such excellent attention this period, would you like to do this problem?"

"Um, I wasn't really paying att-"

The teacher snapped at him, "Get up here."

"Yes ma'am!"

Shakily, Elsword made his way up to the board and shot a glare at Aisha, who was trying her hardest not to burst out laughing.

He raised the chalk to the board and blankly stared at the equation.

"… I don't know ma'am."

"That's what I thought. Elsword, you have earned the privilege of staying after school to clean up the class! Congratulations! Now go sit down."

"…yes, ma'am…"

As he was walking back, he glared Aisha again and she was still trying not to laugh. In an instant, he swept the chair leg causing the chair to topple and flip over, doing it so quickly that the teacher did not notice. Elsword made his way back to his desk and put on that smirk again.

Aisha, clutching at her tailbone, groaned in pain.

"Ow… Hey, Elsword! What's the big idea-"

The teacher came in for the double-kill.

"Oh, Aisha? Are you not paying attention either? Surprising for a diligent student such as you! Oh, I know! You can join Elsword after school today!"

"But-"

"No, I insist." The teacher flashed that fake smile again, filled with sarcasm.

Elsword let out a snort, which caused Aisha to turn around and glare at him . Rena let out an exhausted sigh knowing that she would have to deal with this for three more trimesters. She turned to look out the window, only to notice a desk that was next to hers. It was empty and it looked like it was collecting dust, little dust particles dancing in the sunlight.

With that thought, the bell rang indicating the end of that period.

"Your homework sheets are the handouts that your class president gave to you in the beginning of this period. Have a nice free period."

Aisha and Elsword came up to Rena for a 'hello' and 'how do you do'.

Cheerfully, Aisha held out her hand.

"Oh, yeah! Here's the homework that I was supposed to give you."

"Thanks." Rena accepted it, scanning it over; it didn't seem too hard. She glanced at the two, saying lightly, "You guys get in trouble a lot?"

Elsword was picking his ear. While flicking it away, he said, "No, it's usually it's just her."

"The class president gets in trouble a lot?" Rena had a hint of concern in her voice. A class president should be setting the example for proper behavior, not defying it.

"He's lying. Whose fault is it that we have to stay after today?" Aisha huffed.

"Entirely yours," replied the redhead.

Oh brother; another shouting fest. Rena gave up and reached in her bag and took out her pencil case; best to get the homework out of the way while she had time. There wasn't much else to do anyway.

"—and you know it's true that you look at her—"

The first problem: Identify the second power of the...what was it again? She had learned this from her former school, this was almost too easy. It would be easier if...

"Aw, jealous?"

Their escalating voices now garnered the attention of every student present as they watched the class president and delinquent quarrel right in front of the new kid's desk as if it were the most natural thing to do in the world. Rena could feel everyone eyeballing them, eyeballing her, perhaps feeling sorry for her. But all she wanted was to solve the square root of x with the remaining variables. She did not come here to listen to idiots yelling at each other; she could do that with the TV.

"—if I didn't have nearly all the same classes with you, you pest—"

She wanted to finish her work.

"You think I wanted to be in the same class with the noisiest, most annoying little—"

Rena didn't like it when she couldn't finish her work.

"Annoying? Says the delinquent! You know how many forms I have to fill out for this class whenever YOU cause trouble?!"

"Whatever, I hate this place anyways!"

_She wanted to finish her work._

"If you hate school so much, why don't you hang out with Raven and his gang!"

As soon as Aisha said that, she clamped a hand over her mouth, with a mortified expression, everyone else looking away as the atmosphere suddenly turned tense. Elsword frowned and raised an eyebrow, but even he did a quick scan of the classroom, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief when realizing the aforementioned person was nowhere in sight.

But Rena didn't realize how everyone had stiffened nor how even the sun seemed to abruptly darken. at the mention of that name. Seizing that moment of silence, she stood up, her chair scraping against the floor as she turned to the two with a radiant smile on her face.

"Uh...Rena?" Elsword looked confused as she gently laid a hand on the back of Elsword and Aisha's head, as if she meant to support them. Her touch was very gentle...

_BANG!_

Boom, tension gone.

"Ow! Why the hell did you do that?!" The redhead stumbled away, clutching the spot where his head had been forcibly rammed against Aisha's, as she squealed in pain. Rena didn't look the least bit apologetic as she dusted her hands in a job well done.

"That is what happens to those who disrupt my work." She was still beaming, but now the students could see a somewhat...sinister edge to the smile. Something very terrifying was lurking behind that soft demeanor. "I hope you two will get along smoothly now?"

When a teacher came back to check on the class, he was pleased to see that everything was going normally. Students were talking, playing cards...the new student was diligent in her studies; not bad. He was a bit surprised when he saw two students nursing a very noticeable lump on their heads, but he shook his head and moved on.

"Rena's really scary." A girl whispered to another.

"Did you see how she just took their heads and bashed them together? Like this!" another girl made a banging motion with her hands. "That's the first time I've seen anyone shut Pres and El up!"

She sighed; she had come for a fresh start, maybe make a few friends, and pass high school with little trouble as possible. That was out the window now; first day and it seemed like there was a magical barrier around her as students nervously edged away from her as far as politely possible and the task of keeping the two hotheads in check had fallen unanimously and unofficially to her.

Resisting the urge to bang her head against the table, she smoothed her golden hair and continued on her homework.

"_Stupid Rena, losing your temper like that in front of all your classmates..." _She thought to herself, but her train of consciousness was interrupted by the bell, signaling their break was over. Looking over her course list, she saw Aisha and Elsword still leering at each other. Rena cleared her throat. The two looked over as Rena gave them an innocent smile, yet something evil hid behind it. And the class president and redhead definitely saw that evil. Instantly, they laughed nervously and started to prepare for their next class, which was English.

The teacher walked into the front of the class. It was the usual: Rena introduced herself, said hello, and the teacher taught the lesson. Language was never Rena's strong suit; that's why she spent twice the time studying this subject. But it only allowed her to keep an average skill level in English. Unlike the other subjects, she didn't excel in it.

The first half of classes in school were uneventful. Actually, the entire day was sort of dull after that head banging incident. Rena was invited to eat lunch by Aisha because she knew that Rena was the only one that could keep Elsword in line, especially with Aisha nearby. Because of that, lunch was calm as well.

Rena was bored out of her mind by the last class of the day. Thank god it was the last class. As she was taking notes, Rena continuously glanced up at the clock. After a quick scan of the classroom, she realized she wasn't the only one. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, there was a familiar _ding dong_. The bell rung and kids were finally making their way home. Everyone, but Aisha and Elsword that is. Well, it was their fault for getting in trouble. Rena wasn't trying to be mean or anything, but those who broke the rules deserved the consequences. Rena made her way out of the school building.

It was her first time walking home from school; her parents had always insisted driving her to and from any place lest she get kidnapped or get lost. In fact, the only reason they didn't do the same now was because their new work schedules conflicted so thoroughly with the school times. However, they did give her a map on how to get home, extra bus tickets, and even tried to give her a compass.

It had been a while since she was able to walk the streets alone, without her worrisome parents hovering behind her. They meant well, her being the only daughter of the family, but...it could get a bit suffocating at times. Still, she understood. But, it felt so nice to be alone!

And free! She laughed to herself, elation springing in her steps as unpleasant memories of school drifted away from her mind. How good it felt to be...

...lost?

She looked around. There were no more stores or stands here. This was an unfamiliar part of town, for there were almost no people here. Did she take a wrong turn? But where and when?

No, she was not lost. Of course she wasn't. Just...misguided! She had to hurry now; if her parents found out it would be all the more reason for them to never let her go out of their sights ever again until she turned eighteen. Maybe not even then.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she thought hard as she took out the hand-drawn map her parents had forced her to take. Yes, the path was supposed to be here...then, where was this place? It certainly wasn't the fifth street that her parents had outlined in red ink. She tried to retrace her steps back to the main road. She had to stay calm, and focused, and...

"You son of a—what did you say?!"

What? Alarm bells going off in her head, the hairs on her neck prickled as she turned towards the source. She knew this was a really, _really_ bad idea... But she started to make her way to the voice.

As she saw other people, she quickly hid herself next to bunch of discarded and empty boxes. Rena peered through a crack and saw a teenager such as herself. Said teenager was surrounded by at least eight others, just as tall and built as him, if not bigger.

"I said, get out of my way." Quietly, the black haired student told him.

One of the guys from the other group walked behind him, put his hand on his right shoulder and with a comical tone he said back to his goonies, "I think we have to teach this guy who runs this town!"

Another gangster picked up a glass bottle that was next to the boxes Rena was hiding in. Fortunately, he didn't see her. It didn't look like the black haired boy didn't see either. The one with the bottle closed up on him, Rena closed her eyes tightly in order to prevent seeing the gory sight that was to be.

_Crash!_

Rena had opened her eyes after a good three seconds after the sound. The golden eyed student now had a broken bottle in his hand... And the one who wielded it first was down. Chunks of glass could be seen on his head and it was obvious that he was out cold.

"H-hey is he alright? Why you son of a—"

_Wham_. It was punch of near light speed that seemed to slam right into the guy's nose. He flew a respectable five feet before touching down. Rena noticed, he was only using one arm to do this. His left arm and hand were covered by the sleeve of his shirt and pocket.

"Jesus Christ! You little!" Another one foolishly rushed at him.

Skillfully he dodged and followed up with a high hook kick to his left cheek. He took his right hand and sifted it through his hair, slight spiking it upwards, revealing a white streak that ran through the under layer.

"H-hey boss... We made a huge mistake..." The two remaining gangsters started to shiver in fear.

"What?" Their boss was acting quite ignorant.

"W-we just picked a fight..." started of the boys.

"...with the leader of the Crow gang..." The statement was finished.

Their boss' face grew paler than the moon.

"You're telling me that we picked a fight with Raven?"

The two nodded. Their boss motioned them to pick up their wounded and run for it. And that's exactly how it happened.

"Feh. Cowards." Raven scoffed.

Rena saw everything. But she was just an innocent bystander! She didn't do anything wrong, right? She just happened to be at the wrong place at the right time! Whatever the case, it was over and she had to get out of there. As quietly as she could, Rena slowly started to scoot herself out of the boxes.

_Screech!_

Well, she tried to be quiet.

"Who's there?!"

It was Raven. Rena peered through the small crack on a box to see that he was staring right back at her. He started to make his way towards her.

Rena was terrified. Not knowing what was going to happen to her, she could only stare. A hand reached for one of the boxes to clear away. She gulped, curling herself into a ball in a lame attempt to make herself unnoticed. As the boxes were cleared away, she came face to face with this boy named Raven.

The first thing she noticed was his hair. It was outlandish, especially with that white streak. The second thing she noticed was the permanent scowl that was etched on his face, now directed at her for her unwelcome intrusion.

"What the hell are you?"

* * *

**Chaser: **Well, as the first collab I've ever done, I'm impressed. Looks like google drive wasn't a bad idea. I thought our writing styles would conflict in some way, but it seems to transition very smoothly. Writing this took a lot longer than I thought it would (almost two weeks!). If you're confused on how we're going to do this story, let me explain. This is not a straight up Rena·Raven fic. We've planned it out so that each pairing/characters get their own story arc and the first arc is Rena·Raven.

The pairings will be that and Elsword·Aisha and Chung·Eve. I don't plan on adding Ara. Sorry if that or the pairing turn some of you off!

I wanted to go with a school setting, but also wanted something original. That's when I got the idea of pulling stuff from my personal life and incorporating it into the characters.

He-Jay, do you have something to add?

**Hee:** This is really fun! You pretty much said everything for me, so I have little to add. Let's do this! Fighting! ^_^


	2. Repayment

At long last, chapter 2 is finally here! I do have some announcements at the end of the story, so please read it!

**Disclaimer: Elsword(엘소드) is owned by KoG Corp., Nexon Korea, Kill3rCombo, Giant Network, Gamania, Gameforge, and LevelUp!Games respective to their own regions. Only this story is owned by the authors: He-Jay and myself.**

* * *

"There is no need to be angry. I am just a student of that school over there. As you can see, I'm a perfectly innocent bystander that just happened to walk by, but somehow I got over here and managed to see and hear the entire thing with you and the bottle and those people. Not to worry, though, I have no idea what's going on and if you just let me go on my merry way, we can all forget about this issue and resume our normal lives. I'll pretend I saw nothing, and I don't know you. There! That seems all right, doesn't it?"...

...was what she would have liked to say.

But there was something about that scowl, and the way his eyes seemed to burn with real fire that erased all speech and composure from the poor girl. The words stuck in her throat, fear suffocating her like a mask. She tried to speak, but all that rasped out of her was a quivering "...Rena..."

"What?" he snapped, his scowl deepening further. "Speak up, twerp."

Even more quietly than the last time. she whispered, "... Rena."

He narrowed his eyes once again at her. It felt like they were piercing through her own body, like his eyes were bayonets, ready to be thrusted at her.

Breaking her daze, Raven said, "I said _speak up_."

Oh, so he was one of those guys... quick to frustrate, hard to anger. But Rena wasn't going to try her luck on a thought. She had to get out of there... and fast.

Finally, with all the courage she had left in her body, barely, yet still audibly, she said, "My name is Rena."

He scoffed, not really satisfied with her answer. Why did he even ask that in the first place? "So, thought you'd spy on us, did you?"

"Spy? No, I'm not a spy! I have no idea what just happened!" Rena was thinking of possible outcomes. What if he killed her? She saw how he had no problem just disposing those other gangsters like trash! What's one girl going to mean to him?

He gave that suffocating look again.

"Are you trying to lie to me?" Raven took a quick glance at the uniform she was wearing and the bag she was carrying. Both had the same insignia as the uniform he himself was wearing.

"Class." Raven said one word.

Shakingly, Rena replied, "W-What?"

"What. Class. Are. You. In," said Raven impatiently.

Stuttering, she said, "1...B..."

Same class as himself...was she new? He didn't remember her from the first day of school. Nor the first week. Well, he rarely went to school anyways. And when he did, everyone was afraid of him, even the teachers. Even the kids that sat next to him made sure that they kept their distance.

She was no exception. Raven knew that look far too well: the look of fear.

Raven didn't mind, however. It did bug him at first, but he then realized being the leader of the most notorious gang in the city of Hamel meant that people were_ supposed_ to be afraid of him.

And he liked it. Raven used fear to manipulate; he used fear to gain territory for the gang and if anyone dared to challenge him...

Yeah right...what challenge? He had all the power the streets of Hamel had to offer! To top it off, he was strong. Raven was easily able to take on multiple fighters bigger than he was!

Now the most feared person in all of Hamel was standing in front of just a girl. A weak, afraid, pathetic little girl.

"Um..."

"What."

"Sorry, but could you please direct me to where fifth street is?"

"You're asking me to help you, a spy, back home?"

"Yes! Erm no! Wait! I'm not a spy!"

Dryly, he replied, "Prove it."

"Um...how?"

"Do you know who I am?"

"I think you're...Raven...right?"

Raven sighed; she obviously wasn't a spy.

Letting out a deep breath, he answered the poor girl's question, "You see that building over there? When you reach there, take a left and go straight. You'll be on the main road then. After that," Raven shot a glance at the bag and the loose map that was hanging out of it.

"You can use that map again."

Rena took the map out, looked at it, and nodded. She beamed a smile at him. "Thank you very much!"

Raven was shocked. He was at a loss of words. When was the last time someone _actually_ smiled at him? Not a smirk...not a nervously forced laugh...a genuine smile...like hers. "...Yeah. No problem. Don't go and get lost again."

"And Raven?"

He snapped out of his thoughts.

"Do try to come to school. I realized what I assume to be your desk was collecting dust."

"O..kay?" Damn it. Why did he say that?! Now he has to go. Well, he doesn't _have _to, but he should! He'll just tell her 'maybe next time'.

Wait... Where'd she go?

"Tch, she moves pretty fast."

He took out a cigarette and lit it. After taking a few puffs, he took his left arm out of his pocket, revealing a big, metal prosthetic limb. Raven smashed the now finished stick of tobacco into his hand, snuffing it.

The sun was already setting...it was time to go home, wherever that was for him...

They were waiting for her. As soon as she had taken off her bag and hung her coat, she was called to the living room where her mother sat on the couch, lips pressed tight.

"Where have you been, young lady?"

"I was, uh..." Should Rena lie? What would she say?

"I was given a tour of the school!"

Rena kicked herself slightly, for how stupid that excuse was.

"The tour took that long?"

Her mother was... protective, to say the least. All throughout junior high school, she made sure she knew where Rena was at all times. All activities were to be supervised by her and only her. If not with her, Rena was to update her mother at outrageously short intervals of time.

"Yes. It did." Rena used all of her confidence to say something slightly believable.

To her surprise, her mother nodded, got up, and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for when her father got home.

Rena went upstairs to her room to do her homework. The work that she couldn't finish in class today, due to Elsword's and Aisha's bickering.

It was a peaceful, uneventful evening. Her father came home, discussed their days at the dinner table, and it was all done cleanly. Tranquil... Rena liked that. Her mother got off her case without a hassle and she might've convinced a student to come back to school!

Feeling satisfied, she went to bed and waited for tomorrow to come.

* * *

When she arrived at school the next day, everything felt a little... off.

The teachers weren't talking as much, the students were whispering, and the air felt very tense.

She could hear one word, or name, repeating over and over again.

"...Raven..."

When she finally reached her classroom and opened the sliding door, all of the kids were huddled to the right side of the classroom, away from...

"Raven!" Rena excitedly walked over to her seat and started to talk to him.

All her classmates could do was just watch and stare with their eyes and mouths wide open.

"So you came to school today! That's good!"

Before she could say another word, Aisha stomped over to Rena nervously and dragged her back outside of the classroom where Elsword also was waiting.

After a moment of silence, Aisha whispered shrilly, "Rena! Do you know who that is?!"

"Um, Raven, right?"

Elsword frantically tried to speak. It was obvious that he was something Rena was troubling him.

"Rena, th-that's Raven! He's the leader of the Crows!"

"Who are the Crows?"

"The Crows are the most feared gang in Hamel and the only person more feared than the gang is the leader himself!"

"Oh... I didn't know that?"

"Well now you do!" Aisha closed her eyes, let out a sigh and began to talk again.

"It's best not even to get involved with him-" Opening her eyes, she saw that Rena wasn't in front of her anymore, rather, she was back at Raven's desk trying to strike up a conversation.

"Raven~ Are you free after school?"

"... Why?"

For someone who was known all around Hamel, he was not one to keep a conversation.

"Well, I still have to repay you for helping me get home."

"... You do?"

"Of course I do!"

"And how do you expect to do that?" Raven raised an eyebrow at her.

"Um... Oh! I can buy you ddeokbokki!"

"... No."

"But why?"

"Because I'm not interested in food from an idiot."

Rena huffed and said, "That's not very nice!"

At this moment, Elsword and Aisha both grabbed her shoulders and dragged her out of the classroom again.

"RENA! WHAT DID WE JUST TELL YOU!" Elsword was now yelling in her face with Aisha next to his.

"Jeez, I'm just trying to make a friend."

"Listen. Friends are great and all. But Raven is not someone you should befriend. Ever."

"Okay, now you guys are just being jerks."

"Rena! He runs a gang. A gang!"

"Well, he doesn't look like a bad person." Rena was right. The day before when she saw the fight, after thinking about it, Raven was just defending himself. It was those thugs who tried to hit him with the bottle first!

"Well, you know what they say! 'You can't judge a book by its cover'."

Rena crossed her arms and replied, "What made you think I was a good person?!"

Hypocritically, Elsword replied, "Well you looked nice."

"Aha. That's contradicting what you just said."

Leaving both Aisha and Elsword speechless, Rena said, "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go find out how I can repay Raven for helping me get home yesterday."

She started to walk back to Raven.

Aisha turned and said to Elsword, "Nice going, you moron."

"A moron?! Me?!"

"Yes you! If you hadn't said that she looked nice then she wouldn't be walking back to him right now!"

"What, did you want me to lie to her face?!"

The altercation ceased when they saw Rena in front of them.

She was giving them that smile again.

That smile with a demonic aura behind it.

"My my! Are you two fighting again?"

"No, not at all madam!" Elsword straightened up.

"Why would we fight? We're the best of friends." Aisha let out a nervous laugh.

"Good!" Rena finally began to go back to Raven again.

She thought to herself, '_Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on them...'_

"Hey."

Oh look, now he was talking to her! She knew he'd come around.

"Hi!" she beamed.

He gave a glare again.

"You saw nothing yesterday. Okay?"

A little nervous, she replied, "R-Right!"

"Also, get off my foot."

Rena looked down to see that she was, in fact, stepping on his foot.

"Oh! Sorry..."

Embarrassed, sat herself in her chair and began getting herself ready for the first class. But as this was happening, she began to think to herself:

Did she do something wrong?

How was she going to pay him back?

Is he really as bad as people say he his?

What can she do so that he'll stop scowling?

The bell rung and the kids in the room had to accept the fact that they would have to be in the same room as Raven.

The teacher walked in and looked baffled when he saw the gang leader. He continuously took glances at him during the lesson and it was obvious that he was fearful of the teenager. He continued to skip words and stutter throughout the period.

Rena, however, was still lost in thought with questions about the boy sitting next to her.

The bell rang and the teacher scurried out as fast as he could. Even faster when Raven glanced up at him.

Rena decided that enough was enough and that she was going to ask him those questions.

"Raven!"

He opened one eye to look at her.

The questions, however, somehow magically disappeared from her mind as she tried to form the words. Instead, what came out was, "What do you like?"

"Quiet."

"Aw, don't be like that." she pouted (if the dude liked quiet, he probably wouldn't even have bothered with her in the first place.) "I still need to thank you, remember?"

"You know how you can thank me?"

Rena lit up. "How!?"

"With quiet."

For a split second, it seemed that she actually heeded his word, as she clamped her mouth shut, not letting another peep out. Noting the sudden silence, Raven turned to look at her, mild surprise relapsing into irritation as she hastily scribbled on her notepad, _Got it! Anything else?_

"Visual noise counts." Raven sneered.

Rena was getting frustrated. Trying to repay someone shouldn't that hard. But he was just so... Stubborn! Stubborn didn't even begin to describe it. He was like a rock: completely immovable.

It seemed, then, she would just have to take things into her own hands if he refused to cooperate.

* * *

"Rena I'm really worried for you."

"Oh?" she stopped, smiling at Aisha. "Why?"

"Look, I know…" she struggled for the right words. "We're all supposed to get along, but there are limits to everything, and I think you're going too far with...with him. Even if Raven does accept you, which will probably never happen, you have to remember that he's not th_e only _gang member. There are plenty of people that want to pick a bone with him, and some of them might see you as a target."

Rena's heart, formerly hardened with Aisha's and Elsword's misgivings, now thawed under the girl's touching concern. She, Elsword, her classmates, parents...they were all trying to protect her so hard.

As a child, she once uprooted a flower from her garden and re-planted it in the wild grass field just beyond her backyard, to 'let it grow free.' Her childish hopes, however, were shattered when she had returned a few days later and the flower had wilted into a near-death state. That garden flower had been protected and cared for so thoroughly that in the wild, it couldn't function properly, and died.

She didn't want to become like that.

"Oh, Aisha." Rena ran a reassuring hand through the purple hair. "Thank you for caring for me, I really do appreciate it."

The president blinked, embarrassed but all the same pleased. "Well! Ha ha, I mean...just…"

"But trust me, I know what I'm doing." She caught Raven skulking around the corner and waved, an action he pretended not to notice. "...I know there's more to him than being part of some gang."

"A-are you sure…?"

"More or less." Rena shrugged. With a pat on the head, she ran towards Raven.

Raven glanced towards her again.

"Ah, crap, she's walking this way," muttered Raven. Silently cursing, he kept walking.

"Raven!" Rena had a hint of irritation in her voice.

"I'm not going to just let you go like that!"

"Leave me alone!" He picked up his pace.

"I will not! Not until you let me do something for you!"

"What I want you to do is: leave. Me. Alone!"

He began to run. Rena reached out her hand to grab his shoulder.

*_clank_*

His left shoulder.

Both stopped dead in their tracks. So did everyone else in the hallway.

"... Clank?" Rena did grab his arm... Right?

Violently, he shoved Rena off his shoulder and into the wall.

But it was too late. Rena had already known. One can't just forget the feeling of cold steel on her hand from another person.

Raven shot her with that look. Those eyes of rage, the same eyes that was able to pierce her own being. Those amber eyes that stabbed like knives

Raven turned and ran for the staircase that led to the roof.

Crowds of kids surrounded Rena and some helped her to her feet again.

Aisha and Elsword came to her as quick as possible.

"Rena! Are you okay?" Elsword began checking if she had any injuries.

"Yeah... I'm fine."

"Did he hurt you!?" Aisha was checking as well.

"It's okay... Raven.."

"That no good gangst-"

Elsword was cut off by Rena. But this wasn't her normal, motherly voice.

"Say no more." Rena's voice was dripping with ice. It was enough to get Elsword to realize that she wasn't joking.

She glared at him.

"Say nothing if you have nothing good to say about him."

"But Rena, he-"

"Shut up."

Rena was certain. She was certain that he had a past. A past that he wouldn't show anyone. A past that was supposed be thawed out of him.

Rena began to make for the staircase that Raven ran up. All people could do was stare.

As she got on the rooftop, he found him smoking.

"Raven…"

"Are you afraid?"

She remained quiet, not sure where he was going with this question.

"Why?" Raven broke the silence.

"Why what?"

"I don't want you to help me. Why do you keep...bugging me?"

Rena let out a *humph* and replied, "It's because I feel as if you're as a good person."

"Why don't you listen to your friends and keep your distance."

Nonchalantly, Rena directed her hand towards herself and said, "Because unlike them, _I _don't judge a book by its cover."

Raven just merely scoffed at her. She ignored him.

"Besides, what's so bad about me helping you?"

"Just like her..."

"I'm sorry?"

"You're just like S—someone that I used to know."

Silence.

"...Was that person nice?"

"She did know when to shut up, though."

"Hey!"

He ignored that outburst.  
"Other than that… you guys even look similar."

"Who was she?"  
"Just… A friend."

"Raven... Do you not like me?"

"Sorta."

"Well, that's a bummer. Why?"

"Because you're too happy."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"If you're not happy, you're quiet. And I like quiet."

"Oh, now you're just acting like a child."

Raven looked at her and blew smoke out to her face.

Hacking, Rena exclaimed, "Hey! That's bad for people!" She snatched the cigarette from him and threw it away from him.

Raven ignored her.

A silence filled the air for a good minute. It got awkward for both of them.

"Raven..."

There was no response, but Rena continued.

"Can I see your arm?"

Raven turned to stare at her. The scowl was back, but there was also a look of confusion.

He took his left hand out of his pocket and stretched his arm to Rena.

Slowly, Rena began to move his sleeve up. It revealed a large, obtrusive, gunmetal black arm. It amazed her how well he kept it hidden all this time. She was a little intimidated, but mostly fascinated.

"So, aren't you going to say it?" Raven interrupted.

Rena snapped out of her daze.

"Say what?"

"Am I not a freak to you?"

"Why would I ever think that?"

"Because of this… thing! This abomination of a limb."

"Really? I thought it was pretty cool."

Wow, that was a real first. Someone actually didn't consider him scary. What was wrong with this girl? Doesn't she understand that he could hurt her like he did with everyone else in no time flat?

But, something compelled Raven… There was something with this girl that he just couldn't see. And he couldn't act until he found out what it was.

"I'm not too normal either."

"What?"

Rena moved her hair back, revealing her large, pointed ears.

"You're an elf?"  
She sheepishly nodded.

"Well, that's not really something to hide. People don't discriminate against elves as much as they discriminate against people with large, metal arms."

"I only hide it to hide from the words that people say…"

Rena remembers it all far too well. Stereotypes and racial slurs were thrown at her. When she was young, she didn't understand why people did such things and say such words. She still didn't understand.

"Also, I run a gang. People have a reason to be afraid of me and not like me."

Rena used that to go back to her original topic.  
"It doesn't change the fact that you helped me home!"  
Darn, he fell right into that one.

"So are you going to let me repay you in some way?"

Raven let out a little grin and to Rena's surprise, it was extremely charming. He let out a sigh.

"I hope you know that I eat a lot."  
She giggled and made her way downstairs again.

This time, however, Raven was following her.

* * *

**Chaser**: Well I guess I have some things to say… Firstly, I should've stated that this is an alternate universe that coincides with the original Elsword world. That's why elves exist.

Secondly, I would like to apologize on behalf of myself and for He-Jay. After procrastinating on this for so long, school ended up, well…. happening. I started my sophomore year of high school and He-Jay started her first year at university. Since she is so much more busier than I am, this has more or less become a solo project for me. Although… I'm contributing just as much, if not less, than she is. Much of the credit for this chapter is due to her!

… So I guess this isn't a solo project and still is a collab!

Even as a sophomore in high school, I still have an incredible workload (6 APs and two of them being Comparative Gov't and Calc B/C, why am I killing myself)...

I urge readers to be a little bit more patient with the stories and their updates! Because, I feel as if this is one of the last updates I'll make in a while to this story.

This isn't a "good bye"; 'tis more of a "See y'all much _much_ later".

Ciao for now (and don't give up on this story)!


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